Liam Gilday

Liam Gilday (1920-1980) was an Irish archbishop of the Catholic Church and the head of the Vatican Bank. He was murdered in the Vatican City in 1980, and his death coincided with a banking scandal.

Biography
Liam Gilday was born in Ireland in 1920, and he was a Catholic priest before becoming an Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Rome. Gilday was appointed head of the Vatican Bank by Pope Paul VI, and he presided over the bank during rough times; by 1979, his bank had a deficit of $750 million. That year, American businessman and former crime boss Michael Corleone was awarded the Order of St. Sebastian by Gilday for his efforts in restoring Sicily after an earthquake, and, after the ceremony, Corleone met with Gilday to discuss business. They made a deal, in which Corleone would pay off $600 million of the Vatican Bank's debts in exchange for acquiring the majority of shares (including the Vatican's shares) in International Immobiliare, a major real estate company in Europe. However, Gilday - a member of the secretive Propaganda Due society - had conspired with mafioso Licio Lucchesi and banker Frederick Keinszig to swindle Corleone, as Pope Paul was ill at the time of Corleone's acquisition of the shares, and Corleone needed the Pope's approval in order to acquire the shares. Gilday outwardly portrayed himself as an ally of Corleone, but secretly sought to give Corleone's multi-million donation to people in high places in Italy.

Death
In 1980, Gilday had Pope John Paul I's tea poisoned as John Paul I threatened to reveal Gilday's scheme. However, Corleone's nephew Vincent Mancini, the boss of the Corleone crime family, ordered the deaths of those who had swindled his uncle. Corleone hitman Al Neri travelled to Rome on a train, carrying with him a box of chocolates that concealed a gun. Al Neri entered the Vatican and hid in the shadows as Gilday climbed a set of circular stairs, and Neri shot Gilday before throwing his corpse down the center of the spiral staircase.